This invention relates to vehicles known as tow trucks or wreckers which are used for towing disabled automobiles and the like.
Wreckers generally are provided with winching equipment including a boom and winching cable used to winch a disabled automobile up into towing position immediately behind the wrecker.
During winching, it is necessary to immobilize the wrecker against rearward movement, and different means have been proposed for this purpose. Included among such means are so-called scotch blocks which are ramp-like members positioned, in use, under the rear wheels of the wrecker and attached to the rear bumper structure of the wrecker by chains. With this arrangement, during winching, a tension force is developed in the chains resisting rearward movement of the wrecker, but also exerting a force on the bumper structure which may tend to buckle the structure. An alternative to the use of scotch blocks is the provision of a "stiff leg" on the wrecker including a support linkage terminating in a braced foot which is lowered into ground engagement at the rear of the wrecker to resist rearward movement. The present invention provides an improved stiff leg attachment of this nature.